Palestinian displacement: a case apart?

72 Pages·2006·3.2 MB·English

issue 26
August 2006
Palestinian displacement: a case apart?
Published by the Refugee Studies Centre in
association with the Norwegian Refugee Council.
n
e
w
O
e
nn from
Forced Migration Review ori
C
Forced Migration Review provides a forum the
for the regular exchange of practical
experience, information and ideas between editors
researchers, refugees and internally
displaced people, and those who work
with them. It is published in English,
This issue of FMR was planned long before the humanitarian crisis which has
Spanish, Arabic and French by the Refugee
displaced 20% of the Lebanese population. Articles look beyond the current events
Studies Centre, University of Oxford.
to what most international observers regard as the root causes of conflict and
displacement in the Middle East. The protracted nature of the displacement, the
Editors
complexity of the means used to dispossess Palestinians and the apparent double
Marion Couldrey & Dr Tim Morris standards of the international community do indeed make this a case apart.
From high points in the West Bank it is possible to see across Israel/Palestine
Editorial Assistant
– from the Dead Sea to the Mediterranean. The articles in this issue discuss how
Musab Hayatli displacement from this tiny sliver of land has had and continues to have far-reaching
global consequences. The great majority of the seven million Palestinian refugees still
Assistant live within 100km of the borders of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip where
their homes of origin are located. They are refugees because Israel – committed to
Sharon Ellis
a permanent Jewish majority and granting citizenship to any member of the Jewish
diaspora – denies Palestinians their basic human right to return to their homes of
Forced Migration Review
origin. Palestinians may be the world’s largest refugee population, yet hardly any of
Refugee Studies Centre
them register on the global refugee tally kept by UNHCR as their initial displacement
Department of International Development
predates the 1951 Geneva Convention and the establishment of the refugee agency.
3 Mansfield Road, Oxford OX1 3TB, UK
Email: [email protected] The fact that the Palestinian refugee crisis continues to fester represents perhaps
Tel/fax: [phone] the gravest failure of the UN since its foundation. The international community
Skype: fmreview has not exerted sufficient political will to advance durable solutions consistent
with international law and Security Council resolutions requiring Israel to withdraw
Copyright and disclaimer from occupied Palestinian territory. Durable solutions for displaced Palestinians
have been discussed without reference to the legal norms applied in other refugee
Opinions in FMR do not necessarily reflect the
views of the Editors or the Refugee Studies Centre cases. Refugee rights, entitlements to compensation or restitution and the rights
or the Norwegian Refugee Council. Any FMR print to protection of those Palestinians living under continued military occupation were
or online material may be freely reproduced, not central to the now-moribund Oslo peace process – nor are they part of the
provided that acknowledgement is given to the
subsequent US-sponsored ‘Performance-Based Roadmap to a Permanent Two-
source and, where possible, the FMR URL and/or
the article-specific URL. We welcome comments State Solution’. In the absence of progress towards a durable solution, creeping
on the content and layout of FMR – please email, annexation continues unchecked. Upon completion of Israel’s Wall, Palestinians in
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which constitute an eighth of the area of historic Palestine. Despite pro-democracy
Website rhetoric, Western response to the internationally-validated Palestinian legislative
elections in January 2006 has sparked a politically-induced crisis and crippled the
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Palestinian economy. Ordinary Palestinians are suffering as donors freeze funding
required to maintain humanitarian assistance and development programmes.
Designed by
Art24 (www.art-24.co.uk) It has been considerably harder than usual to raise funds for this FMR
– even before the Lebanon emergency. We are therefore all the more grateful
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Printed by
Jews for Justice for Palestinians, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Save
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ISSN 1460-9819 Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and the Welfare Association.
We owe a debt of gratitude to all the authors, especially those who found time to
Front cover photo:
write for us and consider our editing suggestions whilst responding to humanitarian
The eight-metre-high concrete Wall surrounds
crises in Gaza and Lebanon. This issue – and the funding which has enabled us to
the West Bank town of Qalqilya.
Paul Jeffrey/ACT International get this copy to you – would not have been possible without assistance from Jennifer
Loewenstein, Abbas Shiblak, Angela Godfrey-Goldstein and Elizabeth Cabal.
Free CD-ROM: The theme of the next issue of FMR – to be published in English in November
– will be ‘Sexual violence in conflict and beyond’. The April 2007 issue will include
Regular readers of FMR
a feature section on ‘Strengthening Southern protection and assistance capacity’.
will receive, with this issue, a
See www.fmreview.org/forthcoming.htm. We would welcome articles on Lebanon.
Guide to International Human Rights
Mechanisms for IDPs and their Advocates, Some of you may be receiving FMR for the first time. We publish in English, Arabic,
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With our best wishes
Marion Couldrey and Tim Morris
Editors, Forced Migration Review
contents
Palestinian displacement Breaking the cycle of violence
by Lucy Nusseibeh .........................................................................40
Letter from the editors ...................................................................2 Civil society responds to protection gap
by Vivienne Jackson .......................................................................42
Lebanon: civilians pay the price
Tomas C Archer ................................................................................4 European aid to vulnerable Palestinians
by Daniela Cavini ............................................................................44
Who are Palestinian refugees?
by Terry M Rempel ............................................................................5 Reparations for Palestinian refugees
by Lena El-Malak ............................................................................46
Stateless Palestinians
by Abbas Shiblak .............................................................................8 The politics of Palestinian refugee participation
by Juliette Abu-Iyun and Nora Lester Murad ................................47
UNRWA: assisting Palestine refugees in a
challenging environment Negotiating checkpoints in Palestine
by Greta Gunnarsdóttir ..................................................................10 by Sheerin Al Araj ...........................................................................49
Palestinian refugees in Lebanon Policing thought on Palestine .....................................................50
by Sherif Elsayed-Ali .......................................................................13
What future for young Palestinians in Jordan?
No freedom, no future: undocumented Palestinian by Jason Hart ..................................................................................51
refugees in Lebanon
by Cynthia Petrigh ..........................................................................15 General articles
Immobile Palestinians: ongoing plight of Gazans in Jordan
by Oroub el Abed ............................................................................17 Clarifying local integration
by Sarah Meyer ...............................................................................52
Is Gaza still occupied territory?
by Iain Scobbie ...............................................................................18 UNHCR’s observations to the High-Level Dialogue
on International Migration and Development ...........................53
Can Palestinian refugees in Iraq find protection?
by Gabriela Wengert and Michelle Alfaro .....................................19 Mediterranean migration:
the need for a comprehensive response
Territorial fragmentation of the West Bank
by Erika Feller .................................................................................54
by David Shearer ............................................................................22
The false panacea of offshore deterrence
Identity and movement control in the OPT
by James C Hathaway ....................................................................56
by Jennifer Loewenstein ................................................................24
Rule of law in Sudan’s Three Areas
‘Quiet transfer’ in East Jerusalem nears completion
by Sebastien Gouraud ...................................................................58
by Elodie Guego ..............................................................................26
Right to education in South Darfur
The message of the bulldozers
by Katherine Reid ...........................................................................60
by Jeff Halper .................................................................................28
Burundi: sliding off the humanitarian radar screen?
Just a wall?
by Tom Delrue .................................................................................62
by Tim Morris ..................................................................................30
Strengthening the voices of refugees in UNHCR planning
Wall mitigation efforts: legal and practical tensions
by Leslie Groves .............................................................................64
by Chareen Stark ...........................................................................31
UNHCR: protection and contemporary needs
Emergency assistance for farmers affected by the Wall
by Bill Clarance ...............................................................................66
by Saed Essawi and Emily Ardell ..................................................32
Sardar Sarovar injustices
Impressions from a visit to Palestine
by Rekha Oleschak.........................................................................68
by Julian Gore-Booth ......................................................................34
The challenges of internal displacement in West Africa
Democratic choice punished
by the Brookings-Bern Project on Internal Displacement ............69
by Ibrahim Hewitt ...........................................................................35
Justice for Colombian IDPs?
Can the IDP label be used in Israel/Palestine?
by Arild Birkenes, Norwegian Refugee Council ............................70
by Dina Abou Samra and Greta Zeender .....................................37
Internal displacement in 2005
The Bedouin of the Negev: a forgotten minority
by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre .........................71
by Kathrin Koeller ...........................................................................38
Back cover .....................................................................................72
4 PALESTINIAN DISPLACEMENT FMR 26
Lebanon: civilians pay the price
by Tomas C Archer
As this issue of FMR goes to print, thousands of Most importantly, it is vital now
– if the ceasefire is to be sustainable
IDPs and refugees are heading home following
– to support intensive diplomatic
the announcement of the UN-brokered ceasefire
efforts to tackle the root causes of
which came into force on 14 August. conflict in the Middle East. “The
backdrop to this sudden escalation
Some 1,110 people in Lebanon, after the destruction of the main of conflict is six years of diplomatic
mostly civilians, and 156 Israelis, roads and bridges leading south. neglect,” says Gareth Evans of the
including 116 soldiers, have been International Crisis Group.3 “Today,
killed in the conflict that flared up NRC echoes Human Rights Watch’s the region – and most of all the
after Hizbollah captured two Israeli call for an international investigation Lebanese, Palestinian and Israeli
soldiers on 12 July. Approximately of documented instances of violations peoples – are paying the price.”
900,000 Lebanese – out of a total of international human rights and
population of less than four million humanitarian law by both Israel Tomas C Archer is Secretary
– have been internally displaced. and Hezbollah [see box]. Human General of the Norwegian Refugee
IDPs have sought refuge in schools, Rights Watch’s research1 shows that Council www.nrc.no/engindex.
public buildings and parks, and with Israeli forces consistently launched htm Email c/o: [email protected]
host families. Eighty-eight schools in artillery and air attacks with limited
Beirut alone have been converted into or dubious military gain but excessive
shelters with up to five families living civilian cost. The organisation also Human Rights Watch has urged
in each classroom. Many have fled to documented systematic violations of the UN Human Rights Council to:
relatives in safer areas north of Beirut. international humanitarian law by
Some families became separated Hezbollah, including deliberate and n request the UN Secretary-
during flight, and are still searching indiscriminate firing of thousands of General to establish an
for information about their family rockets into civilian areas of Israel. International Commission of
members’ whereabouts and safety. Inquiry to investigate violations
NRC’s country office in Beirut will of international human rights
The Norwegian Refugee Council has focus on developing programmes and humanitarian law by
joined many international agencies in education, rehabilitation, all parties to the conflict
such as the International Committee reconstruction, distribution of non-
of the Red Cross (ICRC) in deploring food items and the provision of n call for all parties to
the fact that civilians have been information, counselling and legal ensure safe passage for
the main victims in the conflict assistance. In the coming months, a humanitarian relief and for
between Israel and Hezbollah – and large number of people will remain humanitarian evacuations
criticising the lack of respect shown displaced due to damaged houses
by both sides for the rules governing and the collapse of infrastructure n call for all parties to protect
the conduct of hostilities, such as in the affected areas. As people civilians from arbitrary
the distinction between military start to return, one of the dangers displacement, to ensure the
objectives and civilian persons and they will face is that of unexploded physical safety and material
objects. After recent incidents where ordnance. The Mines Advisory well-being of all those
Lebanese Red Cross ambulances Group – a British-based conflict displaced by the current
have been hit and medical staff recovery organisation2 – estimates conflict, and to establish
killed, the ICRC has urged medical that around 10% of the 4,000 conditions that allow them
missions to be respected and has explosive items dropped daily in to return voluntarily, in safety
ICRC workers
pass boxes of aid underlined the urgency of gaining Lebanon will fail to explode, posing and dignity, to their homes
supplies intended humanitarian access to towns a serious threat to civilians.
for southern and villages in southern Lebanon. n insist that all parties cooperate
Lebanon across
Access to Tyre by sea, for example, NRC is gravely concerned about the with and provide access to
the Litani river,
8 August 2006. has become particularly urgent safety and humanitarian situation of the four special rapporteurs
those displaced and other civilians of the Human Rights Council
who are trapped in areas outside who have announced plans to
the reach of aid agencies and who travel to Lebanon and Israel.
may remain exposed to violence.
NRC has called for assurances of safe Full statement at www.hrw.org/english/
passage for humanitarian convoys docs/2006/08/11/lebano13967.htm
80 to deliver supplies to people in need
01 and is also seconding staff to UN 1. www.hrw.org/
0
b-e- agencies through its emergency 2. www.mag.org.uk/
kic/l standby force NORSTAFF. 3. www.crisisgroup.org/
Ko
arko
M
C/
R
C
I
FMR 26 PALESTINIAN DISPLACEMENT 
Who are Palestinian refugees?
by Terry M Rempel

Three-quarters of the Palestinian people are displaced.
“By far the most protracted and
Approximately one in three refugees worldwide is largest of all refugee problems in the
Palestinian. More than half are displaced outside world today is that of the Palestine
refugees, whose plight dates back
the borders of their historic homeland.
57 years. The UN General Assembly’s
Resolution 181 of November 1947
Despite international recognition n While voluntary repatriation
recommending the partition of
of the gravity of the problem, remains in principle and in practice
Palestine led to armed clashes
there remains a considerable lack the primary durable solution
between Arabs and Jews. The conflict,
of popular knowledge and/or for refugees worldwide, Israel
which lasted from November 1947 to
misinformation about the world’s – as the state of origin for the
July 1949, led to the expulsion or flight
largest refugee population. A recent majority of the refugees – and
of some 750,000-900,000 people
study of TV news coverage of the key members of the international
from Palestine, the vast majority of
Israeli-Palestinian conflict in the UK community, including the
them Arabs. The General Assembly’s
discovered that most British viewers US and the European Union,
subsequent Resolution 194 of
were unaware that Palestinians were continue to view host country
December 1948 stating that those
uprooted from their homes and land integration and resettlement as
‘refugees wishing to return to their
when Israel was established in 1948. the primary durable solutions
homes and live in peace with their
for Palestinian refugees.
neighbours should be permitted to
Many of those familiar with the
do so at the earliest practicable date,
Palestinian case tend, as the authors Palestinians and Israelis both make
and that compensation should be paid
of a working paper developed by claims about the uniqueness of
for the property of those choosing
the Refugee Studies Centre for the Palestinian refugees. Many Israelis,
not to return and for loss or damage
UK Department of International for example, claim that the separate
to property,’ was never implemented.
Development (DFID) noted, “to regime established for Palestinian
Israel refused to allow the repatriation
see them as a case apart from other refugees (combined with the
of Arab refugees, most of whose
refugees in the region and, indeed, the reluctance of Arab host states to
villages had been destroyed.”
global context generally.”2 This can be resettle the refugees who cannot
“UNHCR’s mandate does not extend
ascribed, in part, to the contentious exercise their right of return) prevents
to the majority of Palestinian refugees
debate that envelops this refugee a solution to the long-standing
by virtue of Paragraph 7 (c) of the
question, particularly the right of refugee problem. Palestinians argue
organization’s Statute which excludes
return. It is also due to the unique that while the UN continues to affirm,
persons who continue to receive from
aspects of Palestinian displacement: in principle, the right of Palestinian
other organs or agencies of the United
refugees to return to their homes of
Nations protection or assistance.
n The UN General Assembly origin, member states have failed
A similar provision excludes these
Resolution 181 of 1947 to muster the political and material
refugees from the scope of the
recommending the partition of resources that have made refugee
1951 UN Refugee Convention.”
Mandate Palestine into two states return possible in other contexts.
contributed to the initial forced
displacement of Palestinians. The State of the World’s Refugees
Root causes of displacement 2006, UNHCR Chapter 51
n The universally-accepted
definition of a ‘refugee’ – Article Israelis and Palestinians, generally
1A (2) of the 1951 Convention speaking, do not agree on the root The rival nature of Israeli and
relating to the Status of Refugees causes of Palestinian displacement. Palestinian narratives can be
– does not apply to the majority Many Israelis argue that Palestinians explained, in large part, by concerns
of Palestinian refugees. fled during the 1948 war on orders about future refugee claims. Many
of Arab commanders or that the Israeli Jews, for example, worry that
n The UN established separate mass displacement of the local Arab an Israeli admission of responsibility
international agencies (UNCCP population was simply, in the words will strengthen Palestinian demands
and UNRWA – see below) to of Israeli historian Benny Morris, for a right of return and for
provide protection and assistance the unfortunate by-product of a housing and property restitution.
and to seek durable solutions war foisted upon the new Jewish Nevertheless, archival research by
for this refugee population state. Palestinians, on the other Israeli historians like Morris, Tom
based on principles elaborated hand, describe 1948 as the Nakba Segev, Avi Shlaim and Ilan Pappe has
in relevant UN resolutions. (catastrophe) during which they were tended to affirm central tenets of the
expelled by Israeli military forces Palestinian narrative of the 1948 war
n Most Palestinians today are both and fled in fear, hoping to return to previously documented by Palestinian
refugees and stateless persons. their homes once hostilities ceased. researchers such as Qustantin Zurayk,
6 PALESTINIAN DISPLACEMENT FMR 26
‘Arif al-‘Arif and Walid Khalidi and first generation refugees – those carry out its mandate in the context of
in the oral testimonies of Palestinians actually displaced in 1948 and in a protracted conflict. The Commission
who lived through the war. 1967 – Palestinians advocated an reached the conclusion that it was
inclusive or expanded definition unable to fulfill its mandate due to
Historical records – corroborated by that included children and spouses the lack of international political will.
UN and Red Cross archives – paint of refugees, and others in refugee- Today it has no budget and no staff.
a picture of military practices that like conditions, including those
were, at best, questionable under deported from the OPT by Israel, Most Palestinian refugees fall under
existing principles governing persons who were abroad at the time the scope of Article 1D of the 1951
the laws of war. Just before his of hostilities and unable to return, Refugee Convention, which was
assassination by Jewish extremists in individuals whose residency rights inserted during the drafting process
September 1948, Count Folke of the Convention to address
Bernadotte, the UN Mediator there is no comprehensive the specific circumstances of
for Palestine, reported Palestinian refugees. This took
definition of a Palestinian refugee
“large-scale pillaging and note of the fact that the UN had
plundering, and instances of already set up specific agencies to
destruction of villages without Israel revoked and those who were protect and assist this refugee group.
apparent military necessity.” Even not displaced but had lost access Only those Palestinians displaced for
so, Pappe writes that the existence of to their means of livelihood. the first time after 1967 fall within
a master plan to expel Palestinians the scope of Article 1A (2) of the
is irrelevant: what mattered was This disagreement is exacerbated Convention because they are not
“the formulation of an ideological by the fact that there is no covered by the mandate of another
community, in which every member, comprehensive definition of a UN agency. Nevertheless, Article 1D
whether a newcomer or a veteran, Palestinian refugee. The most of the 1951 Refugee Convention is
knows only too well that they commonly cited definition is that commonly misapplied in Palestinian
have to contribute to a recognised used by the UN Relief and Works asylum cases around the world.
formula: the only way to fulfill the Agency for Palestine Refugees in
dream of Zionism is to empty the the Near East (UNRWA), the UN
land of its indigenous population.” agency set up in 1949 – two years How many refugees are there?
prior to the formation of UNHCR
While the displacement of – to provide relief and assistance Not surprisingly, Israelis and
Palestinians from the West Bank to the refugees in the West Bank, Palestinians fail to agree on the
and Gaza Strip during and after the Gaza Strip, Jordan, Lebanon and number of Palestinian refugees.
1967 war can be ascribed to a similar Syria. Unlike Article 1A (2) of the This is further complicated by
pattern of violations, the debate about 1951 Refugee Convention, however, lack of a universally-accepted
why Palestinians fled in subsequent the UNRWA definition merely refugee definition, a comprehensive
wars is arguably less contentious establishes criteria for assistance – it registration system and frequent
because prospective remedies does not define refugee status. A UN migration. But it also relates to
– e.g. return to the 1967 Occupied initiative in the 1980s to issue identity security and political concerns
Palestinian Territories (OPT) – do not cards to all refugees, irrespective of in host countries like Jordan and
challenge the sovereignty and nature whether or not they were recipients Lebanon, fears about repatriation
of Israel as a Jewish state. That is not of international aid, failed due to the in the country of origin (Israel) and
to say that Israelis and Palestinians lack of cooperation among host states. international concerns about capacity
agree on remedies for refugees from to deliver services and the impact
the 1967 war and those displaced In the early 1950s, the UN on humanitarian aid budgets and
by nearly 40 years of military Conciliation Commission for Palestine to asylum claims. This explains the
occupation. Israel’s quarrel with the (UNCCP), which was established vast discrepancy in estimates of the
July 2004 Advisory Opinion of the by General Assembly Resolution Palestinian refugee population.
International Court of Justice on the 194(III) to facilitate a solution to all
legal implications of the construction aspects of the 1948 conflict, prepared Israeli and Palestinian estimates of
of the 650km-long wall/barrier in a working definition of a Palestine the total numbers of Palestinians
the West Bank underscores the refugee to identify those persons displaced in 1948 range from a
depth of disagreement between in need of international protection. low of several hundred thousand
the two parties. The definition would have covered upwards to nearly a million. The total
all persons displaced in Palestine numbers of Palestinians displaced
during the 1948 war irrespective of for the first time from the 1967
Who is a refugee? ethnic, national or religious origins. OPT range from just over 100,000
In light of the intractable differences to nearly 300,000. Demographic
Israelis and Palestinians also do not between Israel, the Arab states studies that compare the size of
agree on who is a Palestinian refugee. and the Palestinians, however, the the pre-war Palestinian population
During numerous negotiation Commission’s protection mandate to the number of Palestinians that
sessions in the 1990s the parties failed was greatly reduced and the remained after the end of both wars
to achieve consensus on a refugee definition was never adopted. The tend to confirm estimates in the
definition. While Israel argued for UN failed to provide the UNCCP higher range. Some estimate that
a narrow definition restricted to with the machinery or resources to
FMR 26 PALESTINIAN DISPLACEMENT 
around 20,000 Palestinians were – it is estimated that up to three- of a unique solution. International
displaced per annum after 1967. quarters of the Palestinian people law and the voices of refugees
have been displaced since 1948. The themselves have been marginalised,
Academic studies and popular Bethlehem-based BADIL Resource if not excluded, by this approach.
media often cite UNRWA registration Centre for Palestinian Residency
figures as the total size of the and Refugee Rights7 estimates Above all, the Palestinian refugee
Palestinian refugee population. the total number of displaced case is contentious because of the
Latest UNRWA figures cite a total Palestinians to be over seven million. degree to which it poses a challenge
Palestinian refugee population of to what Barbara Harrell-Bond refers
4.25 million (Jordan 1.78m; Gaza to as the “tidy system of sovereign
0.96m; West Bank 0.68m; Syria Approaches to the Palestinian states.” She argues that refugees
0.42m; and Lebanon 0.4m).3 While refugee question represent “a fundamental challenge to
UNRWA registration data provides sovereignty, by forcing international
a basic starting point, agency data There have been only two periods of actors to consider ethical principles
excludes: 1948 refugees who did not official negotiations on the Palestinian and issues of fundamental human
register or meet UNRWA’s eligibility refugee issue: early UN-facilitated rights, which are part of their
requirements; 1967 refugees; those negotiations in Lausanne (1949) and international obligations.” At the
displaced after 1967; and IDPs. Paris (1951) and more recent talks heart of this challenge is the question
UNRWA registration files for IDPs held under the auspices of the Oslo of how to respect the individual
inside Israel became inactive in 1952 peace process. The latter include the rights of Palestinian refugees in the
Quadripartite context of Israel’s collective demand
talks (1990s) to maintain its Jewish majority.
to resolve the
question of This is not just a theoretical or
1967 refugees legal question. It is also about
and US-guided fundamentally different Israeli
bilateral talks and Palestinian conceptions
in Camp of the conflict and its solution.
David (2000) “How to overcome this abyss,”
followed by writes American Professor of
a short round International Law Richard Falk, “is
in Taba (2001) a challenge that should haunt the
addressing the political imagination of all those
question of genuinely committed to finding a
nal 1948 refugees. just and sustainable reconciliation
o
ati All three sets of between Israel and Palestine.”
n
nter talks were elite-
CT I driven – with Terry Rempel was a founding
A
ey/ only minimal member of BADIL where he was
ul Jeffr input from civil Coordinator of Information and
a society – and Research between 1998 and 2004.
P
ended without An independent consultant, he is
a solution. completing a PhD at the University
of Exeter. Email: t.rempel@exeter.
and it is yet unclear if UNRWA will Beginning in the 1990s Palestinian ac.uk. A longer version of this
be asked to assume responsibility refugees began organising article, containing more detailed
for new IDPs in the OPT. popular conferences, workshops endnote references, is online at:
and demonstrations demanding www.fmreview.org/pdf/rempel.pdf.
Additional sources of information recognition of their rights and a more For further information, see: www.
include UNHCR statistics for inclusive process. Recent research badil.org/Refugees/refugees.htm
Palestinian refugees outside the five has begun to examine places like
UNRWA areas of operation and in Bosnia for the problem of abandoned 1. www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/publ/opendoc.
htm?tbl=PUBL&id=4444d3c92f
need of international protection, property laws, Guatemala for the
2. www.rsc.ox.ac.uk/PDFs/Policy%20Approach
government statistical surveys,4 experience of refugee participation, es%20to%20Refugees%20and%20IDPs%20RSC-
independent demographic studies and South Africa for truth and DFID%20Vol%20II.pdf
(carried out by organisations such reconciliation. Some refugees 3. www.un.org/unrwa/publications/pdf/rr_
countryandarea.pdf
as FAFO Institute for Applied Social travelled to places as close as Cyprus
4. Complicated by the fact that some states do not
Science5) and civil society estimates and Bosnia and as far away as South
recognise ‘Palestinian’ as a category.
(such as those by Civitas6). Assuming Africa to see if anything could be 5. www.fafo.no/ais/middeast/palestinianrefugees/
a broad definition descriptive of learned from other refugee cases index.htm
the scope of displacement and the and pursuit of claims for property 6. www.civitas-online.org
7. www.badil.org
number of potential claimants – i.e. restitution.8 Official approaches to
8. See www.badil.org/Campaign/Study_Tours/study-
not necessarily all persons in need of find permanent solutions nonetheless tours.htm. and www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR16/
day-to-day protection and including still tend to view this refugee fmr16.14.pdf
1948, 1967 and post-1967 refugees group as unique and thus in need
8 PALESTINIAN DISPLACEMENT FMR 26
Stateless Palestinians
by Abbas Shiblak
Palestinians are the largest stateless community country (Israel) to host states. Two
in the world. Statelessness has dominated and main principles – set out in an Arab
League protocol signed in Casablanca
shaped the lives of four generations of Palestinian
in 19651 – have determined the
refugees since their exodus in 1948.
treatment of Palestinian refugees in
host Arab states: granting Palestinian
One of the main objectives of the non-Jewish population to return to refugees full citizenship rights
Zionist scheme in Palestine was their homes while endorsing the right – but denying them naturalisation
eradication of Palestine from the of any Jew – regardless of place of – and issuing them with Refugee
map, both as a political entity and origin – to unrestricted immigration Travel Documents (RTD) in order
a basis of nationality. Today more and automatic citizenship. to maintain their refugee status.
than half of the eight million or so
Palestinians are considered to be Similar policies were pursued The pan-Arab national brotherhood
de jure stateless persons. These fall following occupation of the of the 1950s and 1960s has faded
broadly into three categories: West Bank in 1967. In defiance of away, to be replaced by a self-centred
international law, Israel considers agenda of fragmented, sub-national
n holders of the ‘Refugee Travel all Palestinians inhabitants of the states and narrow interests. Syria
Document’ (RTD) issued by occupied Palestinian territory is the only country that upholds its
Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq and (OPT) as non-citizens and foreign commitment. Some states, including
some other Arab countries residents. The 250,000 Palestinians Lebanon and Saudi Arabia, expressed
who happened to be outside the reservations in 1965 and have showed
n holders of nationalities of OPT when they were occupied no interest in applying the Protocol.
convenience – mainly temporary were not allowed to return. Israeli Egypt, once fully committed, has
Jordanian passports military rule (the ironically-named effectively withdrawn from the
Civil Administration) issued a Protocol.2 On more than one occasion
n holders of the Palestinian series of orders withdrawing IDs rifts between the leadership of the
passport issued by the Palestinian from thousands of Palestinians as Palestine Liberation Organisation and
Authority (PA) which is a result of the expiry of exit visas Arab governments have resulted in
considered as a travel document they were required to obtain each collective punishments being imposed
pending formation of a fully- time they travelled abroad. Israel’s on ordinary Palestinians. Palestinians
fledged Palestinian state. illegal annexation of East Jerusalem were expelled en masse from Kuwait
in 1967 and the Golan Heights in in 1991 and from Libya in 1995.
All persons legally resident and 1981 led to the application of Israeli Palestinians in Iraq have recently had
registered, born or naturalised in civil legislation in these occupied to endure acts of vengeance including
Palestine under the British Mandate territories. Their residents found killings, evacuation and deportation.
(1919-1948) were British Protected themselves declared to be permanent
Persons, holders of British (Palestine) residents – but not citizens – of Israel. Institutional discrimination against
passports. Citizenship in both The Israeli Ministry of the Interior has Palestinian refugees in Arab
Jewish and Arab states – proposed complete discretion over approval countries has had a devastating
by the Partition Plan set out in UN of citizenship applications. Israel impact on the lives and well-being
Res. 181 in 1947 – was meant to be has employed a 1974 regulation of entire communities. The legal
granted to all inhabitants. However, as a ‘legal’ instrument to deprive status, residency and civil rights of
when Britain promptly ended its many Jerusalemite Arabs of their Palestinian communities in the Arab
mandate on 15 May 1948, it was IDs and residency rights if they World are increasingly uncertain,
left to the successor state, Israel, to are absent from the city for more particularly in Lebanon and Egypt
determine entitlement to nationality. than seven years, have acquired where they are denied rights to secure
other citizenship or been granted residency, employment, property,
Israeli policy has been, and still is, is permanent residency rights communal interaction and family
to reduce the number of Palestinian elsewhere. This can only be described unification. Procedures to allow non-
Arabs while increasing the number of as administrative ‘ethnic cleansing’. residents to apply for naturalisation
Jewish immigrants, who, it must be in Lebanon, Egypt and Saudi Arabia
remembered, were the minority, even do not apply to stateless Palestinians.
in the areas originally demarcated for Arab policies maintain
the Jewish State under the Partition status quo Palestinian refugees in Jordan,
Plan. To ensure Judaisation, Israel the largest community in any of
issued three laws within four years Arab governments have consistently the host countries, have Jordanian
of its foundation: the Absentees’ focused on keeping alive the issue nationality but are denied equal
Property Law, the Law of Return and of Palestinian displacement and political participation and subjected
the Israel Citizenship Law. These preventing primary responsibility to subtle forms of discrimination.
nullified the rights of the displaced being shifted from the source Jordanian authorities refuse to offer
FMR 26 PALESTINIAN DISPLACEMENT 9
naturalisation to those Palestinians living in Europe today are stateless aspect in detrimentally affecting
who at the time of their displacement holders of Lebanese and Egyptian the position of the Palestinian
in 1967 did not hold Jordanian RTDs or expired Israeli ‘laissez- people.4 Unlike other aliens, stateless
passports. Some 60,000 stateless passer’ documents. They sought Palestinians are not admissible
Palestinians, mainly from Gaza asylum in Europe when their in any other country. If expelled
and original holders of Egyptian residency status in the host countries from a country they are at risk of
RTDs, were allowed to stay but became increasingly insecure and, finding themselves in ‘perpetual
have been denied any civil rights in most cases, they were denied the orbit’ as stateless individuals. It is
and most are confined to a camp right to go back to these countries. worth noting that the deportation of
near the northern city of Jarash. Eighty per cent of the 80,000 stateless stateless or other persons who will
Palestinians thought to be in Germany not be received elsewhere may raise
are RTD holders from Lebanon. issues under Article 3 of the European
Impact on Palestinians Convention on Human Rights.
The political argument commonly That is why Takkenberg and others
The right to nationality is a used by Arab regimes to justify have pointed out that when such
fundamental human right. Article discrimination against Palestinian protection or assistance has ceased for
15 of the Universal Declaration of refugees often conceals a sinister any reason, without the position of
Human Rights of 1948 declares domestic agenda: maintaining a such persons being definitely settled
that “everyone has the right to a political system based on racism and in accordance with the relevant
nationality.” It is the right from sectarianism in which ‘outsiders’ resolutions of the General Assembly
which other rights and entitlements are seen as security risks and fear of the United Nations, these persons
can flow – to education, medical is used to control people. Such shall, ipso facto, be entitled to the
care, work, property ownership, policies have had the perverse effect benefits of the Convention.
travel, state protection – in short, of furthering a key Zionist objective
to full participation in a world by dispersing Palestinians even More significant perhaps is the
composed of nation states. further away from their homeland. position apparently adopted by
In recognition of the miseries and UNHCR in October 2002 on the
Changing the status of people to hardship affecting his stateless applicability to Palestinian refugees
non-citizens or threatening the compatriots, Palestinian President of Article 1D of the 1951 Convention
security of their residency status Mahmoud Abbas broke with the Relating to the Status of Refugees.
with little or no consideration of the leadership’s long-established policy The refugee agency adopted the
rule of law generates insecurity and when, in July 2005, he welcomed view that the Convention should
has a devastatomg long-term social the naturalisation of Palestinians apply to Palestinian refugees
and psychological impact. Stateless “if any of the host countries choose beyond the five areas of UNRWA
communities are the first to pay the to do so.” An opinion poll found operation – Jordan, Syria, Lebanon,
price for political instability and most Palestinians agreed with him. the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.5
insecurity in the countries where
they find themselves. Without A sovereign Palestinian state within
access to education or employment, Protection and 1967 borders would act as a catalyst
stateless communities are exposed to international law to resolve the refugee issue and put
political manipulation, exploitation an end to Palestinian statelessness.
and poverty. The effect on host The legitimacy of the decision taken Such an objective cannot be achieved
societies, the region and the world in 1951 to exclude Palestinians from without a regional framework based
cannot be ignored. Impoverished and the international protection regime around a comprehensive peace
marginalised refugee communities on the basis that they were already settlement that includes all host Arab
– notably the Palestinians – constitute being assisted by UNRWA [see countries and which gives Palestinian
the major destabilising factor in the previous article] is being increasingly refugees the options of repatriation,
Middle East. challenged by scholars, jurists and compensation and full citizenship
advocacy groups. There is wider rights in their countries of residence.
Statelessness is a major ‘push’ factor awareness of the need to make
leading to large-scale irregular the international refugee regime Abbas Shiblak, a Research
migration. There is a clear correlation relevant for Palestinian refugees Associate at the Refugee Studies
between statelessness and asylum and to formally acknowledge Centre, University of Oxford,
seeking in industrialised countries. the impacts of statelessness.3 was one of the founders of the
The large numbers of stateless SHAML Diaspora and Refugee
people from the region – Syrian Takkenberg notes that being a Centre, Ramallah www.shaml.
Kurds, Kuwaiti ‘Bidoon’ stripped refugee, stateless, dispossessed, org Email: [email protected]
of nationality, denaturalised Iraqi lacking the passport of a state, not
Shiites and Palestinians – ready having even the theoretical option 1. www.badil.org/Documents/Protection/LAS/
Casablanca-Protocol.htm
to risk their lives on the shores of returning to one’s country – in
2. www.fmreview.org/FMRpdfs/FMR20/FMR2013.pdf
of the Mediterranean and South other words, not having even the 3. www.badil.org/Publications/Briefs/Brief-No-01.htm
East Asia illustrate the strength right to have rights – “has been at 4. Takkenberg. L (1998 ), The Status of Palestinian Refugees
of determination to escape the the very heart of the Palestinian in International Law, New York,
Clarendon Press
humiliation and uncertainty that refugee problem.” He argues that
5. www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/publ/opendoc.pdf?tbl
statelessness brings. The majority of the element of statelessness has been
=RSDLEGAL&id=3da192be4&page=publ
the estimated 200,000 Palestinians more significant than the refugee
10 PALESTINIAN DISPLACEMENT FMR 26
UNRWA: assisting
Palestine refugees in a
challenging environment
by Greta Gunnarsdóttir
UNRWA is the largest UN operation in the Middle
UNRWA’s Health Programme – its
East, with over 2,000 staff, almost all of whom second largest programme – focuses
are refugees themselves. Originally envisaged as an on primary healthcare services, with
special emphasis on maternal and
organisation with a temporary mandate, UNRWA’s
child healthcare as well as disease
programmes have evolved to meet the changing needs prevention and control. Two thirds
of the 4.3 million Palestine refugees living in the Gaza of patients receiving integrated
non-communicable disease care
Strip, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria.
at UNRWA primary healthcare
UNRWA began operations on 1 UNRWA’s Education Programme is facilities are women. UNRWA has
May 1950. Its first priority was to its largest, accounting for over 70% helped bring vaccine-preventable
secure a reasonable standard of of all UNRWA staff and over half diseases under control and has
living for refugees by providing of its budget. UNRWA provides achieved universal immunisation
basic food rations, shelter and elementary, preparatory and (in coverage of children and women. It
social welfare facilities. UNRWA’s Lebanon only) secondary education provides assistance to women during
first decade of work established to almost half a million registered delivery and runs programmes to
the blueprint for its present four Palestine refugee children in 663 prevent and control iron deficiency
priorities: education, health, relief schools. Vocational and technical anaemia among Palestine refugee
and social services, and microcredit. education and training, as well as women and children, as well as
UNRWA currently operates over 700 pre-service teacher training, are tuberculosis. Emergency food aid
schools, clinics and other facilities provided in eight vocational training is provided to Palestine refugee
for Palestine refugees in Jordan, centres. UNRWA encourages refugees children, who are nutritionally
Lebanon, Syria and the OPT. to become self-reliant, productive vulnerable, as well as to pregnant
members of their communities Palestine refugee women and nursing
With more than 50% of the Palestine and to maintain their cultural mothers. UNRWA also has several
refugee population under the age heritage. UNRWA aims to foster a projects to promote environmental
of 25 there is constant pressure on spirit of tolerance, in particular by sustainability in refugee camps. Its
public services, including education, raising awareness of fundamental emergency environmental health
which has always been considered as human rights, including those programme in the Gaza Strip helps
a tool to empower future generations outlined in the UN Convention on municipalities hosting refugee
of Palestine refugees. To this day the Rights of the Child (CRC).1 camps to maintain vital public
utilities such as water treatment
plants, waste disposal systems,
water wells and pest control. Since
Amal is eleven years old and attends Shatie Elementary School, one of 187 UNRWA-
March 2006, there have been serious
funded schools in the Gaza Strip. Its students, aged from six to twelve, are from the
shortages of fuel and other supplies
nearby Beach Camp, just outside Gaza City. The camps in which Amal and most of the
for the operation of water pumps
other students live are among the most densely populated places on earth and have
and sanitation facilities, and also of
few open spaces. School offers the opportunity to play and interact freely with other
chemicals needed to purify water and
children. “I wake up happy in the morning because I am going to school,” says Amal.
eliminate vermin and mosquitoes.
The constant threat of violence pervades the camps. Since twelve-year-old
Najah’s brother was killed in the neighbouring streets, she has not dared to
Fatmeh Abu Ghlieh is sixteen weeks
play outside. “I feel safe at school,” she says. “They teach non-violence – that’s
pregnant. Before the erection of the
why I like it. I’m afraid outside but at school I’m not scared anymore.”
barrier by Israel, Fatmeh’s journey
As the population of the camp rapidly grows, so does the number of children
from her home in Abu Dis to UNRWA’s
needing education. There are now so many children that the school has to be
Jerusalem clinic took fifteen minutes.
divided into two shifts with more than one thousand children in each session.
Now it can take an hour and a half,
At lunchtime, a new session begins as a fresh set of children and teachers
mostly on foot. Fatmeh’s one-year-old
start their school day. Despite the growing numbers and logistical challenges
daughter needs vaccines that she can
UNRWA will not turn any child away. “We can’t say ‘no’ to anyone,” says
only get at UNRWA’s clinic as Abu Dis
headmistress Al-Madhoun. “I have all the records and I personally check with
has no public health facilities. Women
the families to make sure that no one is missing out on their education.”
like Fatmeh face a difficult choice: